1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wearing apparel. More specifically, the present invention is drawn to various headwear such as a baseball style hat or cap and sun visor having structures for retention of eye wear to the face or headwear.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the several pieces wearing apparel items, which seem to have attained universal appeal, is the baseball style cap. Both males and female's young and old wear the baseball style cap, often displaying sports team or company logos. A great number of baseball style cap aficionados also wear some type of eyewear (corrective, protective lenses or shades).
There are many instances when the eyewear user may choose to remove the eyewear for a short period, or they may want a means to protect against the loss of either the eyewear or cap in adverse conditions. The eyewear is usually laid aside and is oftentimes accidentally broken. In day-to-day use or extreme weather conditions, the cap and or eyewear can be lost, thus necessitating expenditure of time and money for replacement. A convenient means to secure eyewear to a baseball style cap and or sun visor, or an effective means of securing a baseball cap to eyewear while at the same time providing a means to avoiding an accidental loss of either, would be a benefit for the user resulting in time and monetary savings.
There are many prior art devices for attaching eyewear to caps or hats and sun visors. Such mechanisms are costly additions to the expense of the cap and are easily broken if the cap is accidentally dropped or sat upon. They also do not address the action of protecting against loss of either eyewear or headwear by creating a one-piece structure while being worn.
Examples of the above prior art devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,560 (Feldman), U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,005 (Danley, Sr.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,125 (Phillips), U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,102 (Solo), U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,207 (Diaz), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,208 (Tonoyan et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,159 (Martin).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,054 (Birum) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,874 (Simpson) show implement holding devices removably attached to caps. The devices of the instant patents require the user to be concerned with a separate mounting for the cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,560 (Daniel) shows a loose fitting cord which does not retract and is not hidden when in use on the face or while eyewear is in storage. This patent the end user has to be concerned with loose fitting cords which could bring upon injury or loss of eyewear.
British Patent 345,833 shows a cap having means for detachably mounting the front of the cap to the peak. The patent does not disclose structure for supporting eyewear on the cap.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to disclose a cap having uncomplicated and efficient means for supporting and protecting eye wear as will be subsequently described and claimed in the instant invention.